(NGS June, 200)
By Christian Gould and Chris Ripken
Note: some of the charts on the web pages will be less accurate than those printed out from the downloads page.
Theme: Djénné- Eternal City of West Africa (NGS June, 2001)
Grade Level: 8th Grade
Title: Djénné an in-depth analysis of the region through reading, description and synthesis.
Overview: This lesson incorporates the use of a National Geographic magazine in a three-part activity in which students will.
¨ Read a challenging article with the assistance of a reading guide.
¨ Describe the characteristics of the Djénnéke culture using the acronym PIGEARS.
¨ Create primary sources that would contribute to an article such as the one used.
Time: Approximately 4 days.
Subject: Geography/World Cultures/Reading
Required National Geographic Magazine, June 2001, Djénné Eternal City of
Materials: West Africa. Microsoft Word files attached to this page.
Optional (click to view the PIGEARS presentation in your web browser. You may also download the file from the "Downloads" page).
Technologies:
Objectives:
3. The students will synthesize primary source documents by creating said materials.
Suggested Procedure
Opening- Students will be presented with the Graphic of the 3 Level Reading Guide and instructed on its use and benefits.
Development- Students will be introduced to the Article, Djénné-Eternal City of West Africa, and asked to answer and complete the questions on the Three Level Reading Guide. On Day two of the lesson, students will review the PIG EARS acronym for cultural analysis and then describe the residents of Djénné using PIG EARS. The Third day of the lesson, students will be creating their own primary source documents that could have been used to write the Djénné article. The Fourth and final day the students will meet and select the best questions and answers to those questions in groups to the article.
Closing-Groups will present their best questions to the class and update the PIG EARS description of Djénné to. Also hand in their primary source for evaluation.
Suggested AssessmentStudents will be assessed following the rubrics contained on the Assessment documents that are contained herein.
RESOURCE BAR
Definitions: PIG EARS: an acronym for these seven descriptions of culture. Political, Intellectual, Geographic, Economic, Artistic, Religious, Social
Geography This lesson contains all of the key components found in the
Standards: the Minnesota standard Geography and Culture, with a little tweaking. In addition, portions of the following National Geography Standards can be found in this lesson: 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16,
17, 18.
Web Links:
www.sacredsites.com/africa/djenne.html
(Learn more about the Great Mosque’s history, construction, and maintenance.)
www.ruf.rice.edu/~anth/arch/brochure
(Read about the history of Jenne-jeno— Djénné’s
predecessor—and the region.)
www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0106/feature6/#know
(A summary of the NGS article used in this lesson.)
Credits:
Chris Ripken and Christian Gould
Centennial
Middle School
Lino Lakes, MN, 55014
763.792.5400
cripken@isd12.org
cgould@isd12.org